The Little Knitter That Could

I have been plugging slowly but surely away at my Lotus Blossom Shawl. I am 13 rows from the finish. I can't even say how excited I am to finish an object. Here's a picture of her, but she's a little rumpled.

Here's some detail. I must give the disclaimer that my camera and I are having really significant troubles in our relationship. I can't seem to figure out how to get the types of photos I want out of it, and it refuses to help me figure out why...

The only only thing I wish about this shawl is that it had a little less "stem" (the yarn over, knit one yarn over pattern you see at the bottom) and a little more blossom (the upside down triangles at the top). I could add another blossom repeat, but at the rate I'm knitting, that will add 7-8 more months before I finish.

I hope to finish, block and have a shawl to wear next weekend in the 80 degree April days next weekend. Oh I know, I'll lend it to Natalie so she won't be cold in my sub-zero apartment at Poker Nite III (you carry around 85 extra pounds and let me know how hot you are). Anyway, there's nothing like a wool shawl to really keep you warm when the temperature dips below 79. Ok really, I have very limited use for something like this in Houston, but that's not really the point is it? I mean look how pretty it is!!!

Anyway, I won't add another blossom because I have something very exciting waiting in the wings...

My Colinette Wigwam for my Salt Peanuts (or now moldy salt peanuts). Flown over from London with my trusty co-worker (who would never ever be the kind of person you would peg as one who would slog 1.1 kg of yarn to the U.S. for someone he knows only slightly, but alas people are alway surprising). It's really beautiful and despite one of my less cultured male coworker's observation of: "It looks like shoelaces," I am in love with it. I knit a swatch of a burgundy colored version of this yarn that, for whatever reason, they don't sell in the UK. So I decided on Moss instead. The Moss is more of what I think of as light sage. It's also a very textured color but not in a way that will take away from the pattern of the cardigan. But anyway, the best part is that this yarn cost me $120 from the UK. From the US, it would have been $250. That's still a lot of money, but I was seriosuly thinking about the $250.

Now my dilema: what size to knit. Six weeks ago, I would have been a candidate for XXL, easy. Right now, I would do well in an XL. However, I think that I'm going to knit a L because it is seriously going to take me 6 months to finish this. Yes dearies, the blog is going to be very boring... Look a sleeve. Look one inch of a back.... Well, unless I spice it up with life drama.

I gotta shower. We (the cat, vet and I) have still not managed to get the cat's blood sugar under control. And for the sixth week since finding out he has diabetes, I had to wake up at 6 on a Saturday to administer his insulin.